Moments in Time
by The-Darkness-Befalls
Summary: A Collection of Aurikku Moments written for my Seheuh-Lremt.
1. Moonflow Beginnings

Moments in Time

A Collection of Aurikku Love

For my Seheuh-Lremt

Chapter One – Moonflow Beginnings

"Sir Auron. I would like Rikku to be my guardian." Yuna asked me. I expected it the moment the girls spoke together. They knew each other, somehow, at least a bit. The girl was a lithe little thing, all arms and legs and skin. I slowly made my way to her, taking in the sunshine of her hair and the way she ducked her head.

"Show me your face." The words came out unbidden as she shied away farther. She jumped a little but did not look up.

"Look at me." I knew it would come out more commanding. A guttural sound of surprise whispered from her throat.

"Oh, okay." She whispered to me.

She looked to her right before slowly, lifting her head to face mine. Her eyes were closed, protecting her secret. A secret I knew for sure the truth of.

"Open your eyes." Slowly, she peeked open an eye. Brilliant but pale beryl intertwined with spirals of dark moss. Like a jewel in a forest. She was an Al Bhed, but she was willing to die for the very thing she was supposed to be against?

"As I thought." I admitted. I hoped my tone was softer, as I knew she was scared. She was giving up some part of her beliefs to attempt to protect Yuna.

"Umm. . . No good?" she whispered. Her voice was somber. She had a songbird's voice. It was meant to be heard. Not so quiet. Not so sad.

"Are you certain?" I asked of her. She looked up at me, her eyes sparkling and bright.

"A hundred percent!" She said confidently. Her voice was lighter, the way her shoulders fell was different. She was a changed young woman in an instant. She looked around rapidly, watching the faces of the other guardians as they appraised her. She knew that I was the one who mattered, but that they would not stand and fight beside her if they did not agree.

"So, anyway," she started. She turned back to me, a smile on her face, a lip quivering to become a full grin. Her hands clasped together. "Can I?" she asked. She was almost breathless and it was an exquisite sound. I looked to Yuna. I could not look at the young woman any longer. She made me feel in an instant what I had refused to feel for a lifetime.

"If Yuna wishes it." I said. I knew what Yuna's answer would be. I dreaded it as much as I wished it true.

"Yes, I do." Yuna spoke. I turned away and began to walk. Tidus continued to speak, but looking back would mean looking at her. And looking at her, would mean remembering.

Remembering that somewhere inside, I was still human after all.


	2. Musings of a Sphere Hunter

Moments in Time

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A Collection of Aurikku Love

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For my Seheuh-Lremt

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Chapter Two - Musings of a Sphere Hunter I

I first met Auron when I was fifteen and barely an adult. I'm sure that some wouldn't even consider me that. The fact of the matter is I grew up fast within the time between meeting Tidus and_ that_ day. When we—well, _most of us_—won.

I lost him that day. It seemed like only a few breathless moments between meeting him and watching him fade away. It truth, it was a scant few weeks. Still, not long enough.

You know when you've been running for too long and your chest constricts and you feel like you will never be able to breathe again? When your chest tightens and your heart pounds in your ears until you feel it might explode?

I felt that same feeling while standing still, watching Auron standing there. Watching the pyreflies float in and out, watching him surrendering to the hereafter.

I loved him with all that I am, all that I was. All I could ever be.

I remember as if it were burned in the flesh of my eyes, when he looked up as Yuna performed the sending. When he looked at me with one eye and spoke to Yuna, "_Don't stop." _When he nodded his head and said softly, "_It's all right_." As if he was speaking to me as well. _It will be all right, Rikku, you will be all right._ He had walked forward then, made his goodbyes in a glance. I know my eyes spiked with tears and I wanted to look away, so that this moment would _not_ be good-bye.

I didn't say a word as he looked away from me and spoke to Tidus, _"It's been long enough". _I know that as he walked to Yuna and prepared to give up that I readied myself to run to him, to tell him I wasn't ready. That I wasn't ready to leave him, to make the time we had spent together but a memory.

I was too late. I watched as he spoke his final words, "_This is your world now"._

And he was gone. He was gone in a moment, but it was the longest and most anguishing moment of my life.

You know how they say your life flashes before your eyes right before you die?

I know now that the same thing happens when the person you love with all of your being dies. You see every moment of your life together pass by like the flicker of a candle and you know that what you were to each other was every second worth it.

Auron was worth more than I ever imagined a guy to be.

When we first met, he made me feel as if I were normal. As if I weren't Al Bhed scum. He made me feel like any normal girl, any normal woman. There was something about him that set off a spark in me right away.

We Al Bhed believe in something we call "_cuim cbyngc". Soul Sparks._ It is that moment when you meet your destiny.

I met my destiny when I was fifteen years old. I lost him soon after.

"Rikku! We're going after Yuna's dress sphere. You coming?" Paine's voice pulled me from memory.

"You betcha!" I was moving on. Not from him. Never from him.

Sadness though? That I could live with out.


	3. Musings of a Sphere Hunter II

Moments in Time

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A Collection of Aurikku Love

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For my Seheuh-Lremt

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Chapter Three - Musings of a Sphere Hunter Part II

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I fell in love when I was fifteen years old. I've said that before. I have never forgotten it.

My cousin, my _best_ friend, lost the one she loved too.

Now? Now Tidus is alive. He is here. And they are happy and together and in love.

When Yuna ran up to him and held him and said welcome home, my heart practically exploded with joy.

It was a beautiful moment.

But then Auron didn't come.

I know that I shouldn't have expected him to, shouldn't have gotten my hopes up. I was almost eighteen already and I truly had seen the world and its anguish. I knew how life was.

Seeing Tidus made me remember in a painful way how short a time I had with Auron and how much I miss him. I love Yuna and I am happy for her.

But don't I deserve happiness too?


	4. Macalania Woods Melody I

Moments in Time

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A Collection of Aurikku Love

* * *

For my Seheuh-Lremt

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Chapter 4 - Macalania Woods Melody 1

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Two things happened.

The first was that I knocked Auron's glasses off his face while fighting a minor fiend.

They broke a second later when I stepped on them.

The second was even less graceful.

Less mature.

"Those weren't expensive, were they?" I asked. I already knew the answer. I didn't wait.

"Fryd dra ramm ys I tuehk drec vun, Cen? E's y vyemina yd ajah esbnaccehk oui silr macc bnudaldehk ran!" I turned and walked away from him.

"Rikku." His voice was quiet.

In the moment of silence following, I turned back to face him. I hadn't noticed that he had come closer until I turned right into his chest. I looked up at him and felt something in me stirring. I could see a hint of it in his eyes, and it didn't matter anymore that I busted his glasses or said all those things.

This was a moment. A moment that I had wanted for so long. Would I, could I, have the courage to stand higher and claim his lips?

And then the moment passed, as moments often do.

I would have to wait for our moment.

And I was never good at waiting


End file.
